In response to national efforts to improve the quality of education in clinical research, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center (WHSC) of Emory University requests K-30 grant funding to further develop and support a postgraduate education program for clinical investigators. The specific aim is to develop an outstanding didactic and mentored program, so that upon completion of this training, clinical investigators can more effectively conduct clinical research and compete successfully for research funding. Emory is at the center of an exceptional health research community. One-fourth of all medical care of the 3.5 million Atlanta population is provided by the WHSC and its affiliated hospitals and clinics. Emory currently conducts 1,049 active research projects involving human subjects and provides access to the latest in investigational studies for a large population in the Southeast. The WHSC of Emory has 1,726 full-time faculty engaged in health-related teaching, patient care and research activities, 952 residents and fellows; 497 medical students; 1,766 other students; and over 154,000,000 dollars/year in sponsored research funding. Twice over the last five years Emory has ranked first in the nation in growth of NIH and other federal research dollars. Emory is also the location of one of the eight originally established NIH General Clinical Research Centers and has close collaborations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society. The Carter Center, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Morehouse University School of Medicine. Recognized as an institution of excellence in clinical medicine, Emory has also made a strong commitment to clinical research career development. To provide formal postgraduate education in clinical research, a Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) degree and clinical research curriculum award (CRCA) program has been established and the program has entered its first class. The MSCR/CRCA program represents a strong collaboration between the Schools of Medicine and Public Health and has the enthusiastic support of the Emory administration and faculty. Participants in this program come from a pool of 208 Emory graduate clinicians in postdoctoral fellowships, over 100 junior faculty with funding for clinical research, other doctorally prepared individuals committed to clinical research and similar individuals from other area institutions. The curriculum of the MSCR/CRCA program emphasizes analytic sciences including statistical reasoning, decision analysis, probability theory, analytic epidemiology and informatics; the principles of bioethics, clinical trials design, regulations involving human subjects, scientific writing, and responsible conduct of clinical research; and the integration of the basic sciences into clinical research. Important features of the program are the mentored thesis in clinical research, the special and cooperative curriculum of the CRCA program, and the plan to utilize the CRCA to promote clinical research education at Emory University and in Atlanta.